Tempe officials imagine a more vibrant and safer Apache Boulevard for the future and restaurant owners along the street said the improvements would likely boost business.
The light-rail line, now under construction, could bring a new wave of customers to Apache Boulevard, said Sheri Wakefield-Saenz, Tempe's economic development director.
"It's the next Mill Avenue in some ways," Wakefield-Saenz said. "[Apache Boulevard] has a lot of mom-and-pop local flavor that people really appreciate."
Light rail will begin running in 2008 through Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa and is just another phase in the continuing redevelopment of Apache Boulevard. The redevelopment has previously included city investments in a new fire station and new sidewalks, Wakefield-Saenz said.
The area stretches from Rural Road and the Tempe Canal to University Drive and the railroad tracks.
Bassel Osmani, co-owner of Pita Jungle near Apache Boulevard and Dorsey Lane, said passengers waiting for the light rail might be more apt to visit his restaurant.
"Hopefully [light rail] will help alleviate traffic," Osmani said, adding the construction phase has made it difficult for customers to reach his business.
This has cut down on the lunch crowd, when customers have less time to eat, but dinnertime has remained busy and catering business has picked up, Osmani said.
Business overall has increased about 4 percent despite light-rail construction, he added.
But Haji-Baba Middle Eastern Food, located on Apache Boulevard between Dorsey Lane and McClintock Drive, has seen sales fall about 15 percent since construction began, said Omar Homsi, a manager.
Whether business improves or declines at Haji-Baba after light rail begins operating depends on how it impacts traffic, Homsi added.
Homsi doesn't think anyone will ultimately ride light rail, he said.
"Who are they building it for?" he said. "Everybody has a car."
Sonny Nguyen, a manager at Khai Hoan Restaurant, located in the same shopping center as Haji-Baba, said if traffic gets smoother after light rail construction ends, it could help make business more consistent.
Due to construction, the restaurant is packed on some days and slow on others, Nguyen said.
But light rail probably wouldn't increase business at Khai Hoan because the closest light rail station, at Apache Boulevard and Dorsey Lane, would be too far to attract more customers, he added.
Also, a police substation now under construction on Apache Boulevard east of McClintock Drive could help deter crimes that have traditionally plagued the area, such as prostitution and gang activity, said Mark Regester, an assistant project manager with the Tempe Police Department.
"There will be a greater police presence down there," Regester said.
Certain crimes, such as burglary, motor vehicle theft and rape, declined about 28 percent in the area between McClintock Drive and the Tempe Canal and the Salt River and Broadway Road from 2003 to 2005, according to Tempe police records.
The substation will open in January or February, Regester said.
The police presence could help drive away some of the transients and drug dealers nearby, Nguyen said.
"[Khai Hoan] might look more attractive, more safe to come [to]," he said.
Police substations close to other locations tended to improve the surrounding neighborhood, said Pat Foster, owner of Pete's Fish & Chips on Apache Boulevard near Rural Road.
But the Tempe restaurant doesn't have a crime problem, she added.
"If [transients] try to sleep anywhere along the property, we run them off," Foster said.
Reach the reporter at grayson.steinberg@asu.edu
